[Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)]
[Notices]
[Page 56468-56469]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27se06-43]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Commodity Credit Corporation
Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.
SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is issuing a Finding of
No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the implementation of the
Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program (EFCRP). EFCRP provides
cost-share assistance for cleanup and replanting for those owners or
operators of non-industrial forest land and school trust land that
experienced a loss of 35 percent or more of merchantable timber
directly related to hurricanes that occurred during the 2005 calendar
year.
DATES: This action is effective 30 days after publication of this
Notice.
ADDRESSES: The Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment and FONSI
may be reviewed at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/epb/assessments.htm.
Written comments should be directed to Mike
Linsenbigler, USDA/FSA/CEPD/Stop 0513, 1400 Independence Ave., SW.,
Washington, DC 20250-0513. Electronic comments may be submitted to
EFCRP@wdc.usda.gov. Persons with disabilities who require alternative
means for communication (Braille, large print, audio tape, etc.) should
contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Consistent with the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) (NEPA), the
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the
Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and FSA's
policy and procedures (7 CFR part 799), the United States Department of
Agriculture, Farm Service Agency (FSA), on behalf of the CCC, prepared
a Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Emergency Forestry
Conservation Reserve Program (EFCRP) to evaluate the environmental
consequences associated with the 2005 hurricane season. During the
course of the 2005 hurricane season, one of the worst on record, five
hurricanes made landfall on the United States (U.S.) between July and
October 2006: Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, and Wilma. Each of these
caused damage to infrastructure, homes, personal property, and
agricultural resources, including privately owned forests. The purpose
of EFCRP is to provide cost-share assistance for cleanup and replanting
for those owners or operators of non-industrial forest land and school
trust land that experienced a loss of 35 percent or more of
merchantable timber directly related to hurricanes that occurred during
the 2005 calendar year.
The EFCRP was authorized by Section 107 of Division B, Title I, of
the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2006, H.R. 2863, signed
by the President on December 30, 2005. The program applies to the
States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and
Texas.
Preferred Alternative
Implementation of the Preferred Alternative will provide cost-share
assistance for cleanup and replanting for owners or operators of non-
industrial private forest land (including school trust lands) who
experienced a loss of 35 percent or more of merchantable timber
directly related to hurricanes Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, Dennis, and
Wilma during the 2005 calendar year.
Producers will be provided financial assistance for the following
nine eligible conservation practices: CP 35A and CP 35B: New and
Existing Longleaf Pine; CP 35C and CP 35D: New and Existing Bottomland
Hardwood; CP 35E and CP 35F: New and Existing Softwood; CP 35G and CP
35H: New and Existing Upland Hardwood; and Mixed Existing, CP35I. Each
EFCRP contract would have a conservation plan developed by a
professional forester. There would be a status review by FSA on each
contract until the Practice is established.
Reasons for Finding of No Significant Impact
In consideration of the analysis documented in the Programmatic
Environmental Assessment for the Emergency Forestry Conservation
Reserve Program and the reasons outlined in this FONSI, the preferred
alternative would not constitute a major State or Federal action that
would significantly affect the human environment. Therefore, an
Environmental Impact Statement need not be prepared. This determination
is based on the following:
1. Both beneficial and adverse impacts of implementing the
preferred alternative have been fully considered within the
Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Emergency Forestry
Conservation Reserve Program. The beneficial impacts outweigh any
adverse impacts. Adverse cumulative impacts are expected to be minor as
implementation of the preferred alternative will cause very little if
any adverse impacts on the area of potential effects and the human
environment.
2. The preferred alternative would not significantly affect public
health or safety. Further, the removal of downed timber as a result of
the preferred alternative would reduce fire fuel, minimizing the
potential for wildfires to threaten public safety.
3. The preferred alternative would not significantly affect any
unique characteristics which includes historic and cultural resources,
parklands, prime farmlands, wetlands, wild and scenic rivers, or
ecologically critical areas.
4. The preferred alternative does not involve effects to the
quality of the human environment that are likely to be highly
controversial. Implementing the preferred alternative will reduce
contamination of drinking water, improve air quality, and further
recreational and socioeconomic benefits.
5. The preferred alternative would not impose highly uncertain, or
involve unique or unknown risks.
6. The preferred alternative would not establish a precedent for
future actions with significant effects and does not represent a
decision in principle about a future consideration. The preferred
alternative is intended to assist owners or operators of non-industrial
private forest land in recovering from the 2005 hurricane damage. Any
future projects that are similar in nature will need to be reviewed on
a case-by-case basis to determine their individual potential for impact
on the human environment.
[[Page 56469]]
7. The preferred alternative is not related to other actions with
individually insignificant but cumulative significant impacts. The
Environmental Consequences section of the Programmatic Environmental
Assessment for the Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program
discusses potential cumulative impacts of implementing the preferred
alternative. Cumulative impacts of implementing the preferred
alternative were determined to not be significant.
8. The preferred alternative would not adversely affect districts,
sites, highways, structures, or objects listed in or eligible for
listing in the National Register of Historic Places or cause loss or
destruction of significant scientific, cultural, or historical
resources. Consultation with the State Historic Preservation Offices
was completed. Site-specific cultural resource considerations will be
addressed during the environmental review process for individual
contracts.
9. The preferred alternative would not have adverse effects on
threatened or endangered species or designated critical habitat. In
accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C.
1536, the effects of implementing the preferred alternative on
threatened and endangered species and designated critical habitat were
addressed in the Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the
Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program. Informal consultation
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was completed.
10. The preferred alternative does not threaten a violation of
Federal, State, or local law or requirements imposed for the protection
of the environment.
Determination
Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act, 40 CFR part
1502.4, ``Major Federal actions requiring the preparation of
Environmental Impact Statements,'' 7 CFR part 799, ``Environmental
Quality and Related Environmental Concerns--Compliance with NEPA
implementing the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality,''
and 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, I find that neither the proposed action nor
any of the alternatives analyzed constitute a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, no environmental impact statement will be prepared.
Signed in Washington, DC on September 21, 2006.
Thomas B. Hofeller,
Acting Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. E6-15855 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P